I'm finally getting my chicks next monday. I've read about having a 250 watt red heat bulb for above the brooder. Since i'm only getting 5 chicks.... is the 250 bulb overkill. Would I be better with a 125 watt red heat bulb... or maybe even just a regular old 100 watt light bulb? Thanks for the help.
250 watt is way overkill for 5 chicks. 100 watts set a little closer should be more than enough, 60 watts might even do.
Thanks for the quick replies. I thought the 250 heat bulb was a bit much.... I think the 100 or 150 regular bulb should do.
We started with a 250 watt bulb. My bedroom was so HOT! LOL We have 6 chicks and have since bought a 100 watt bulb and its much better. Good luck!
Last Friday got five Buff Orpingtons that were two weeks old. As soon as we got them home the temperature started dropping and now we are having record setting lows every night. Not Cape Cod weather, but down here really odd for the middle of May. Middle and low forties, too cool for chicks. Yesterday on the advice of an old chicken expert, I was told to put them under a clip-on light bulb with reflector and to use a sixty watt bulb. I placed it a foot above the floor. The little dudes gravitate to it and have pretty much stayed there since I put it in yesterday. Sixty watts is plenty here. At your place 100 should do just fine, depending on the area you are covering. I wouldn't go any higher for five or six chicks. I have read on another post in this forum what I consider good advice: If it is too hot, the chicks won't go under it. If it is too cold, the chicks will huddle underneath. If the entire coop is just right, they will run all over the place and you can cut off the light.
We have a 150w for 4 chicks. It's too much really. It's almost completely out of the brooder (an empty kitchen cabinet, in case you're wondering height wise) and they're only a week old. I would go with a 100w if I was you.
It depends more on the size of the brooder than anything else. We're using a rubbermaid storage container and have been just fine with a 50watt red bulb. The owner of our feed store had plenty of horror stories to share about people not considering the size of their brooder when picking their bulbs... she had one customer use a 250watt bulb with a small brooder... a ft from the chicks... they were cooked.
Chicks react to light. White light causes them to be quite active and sometimes leads to feather picking issues. Red light is softer, more subdued and the chicks will react in a more restful manner. Agree, that 150watt is plenty, plenty this time of year. A 90watt might even be adequate if ambient temps don't fall below 50. With ambient temps at 70, it is really, really easy to fry them before their time.
